Mid-May 2026 set the tone for what was coming. On May 15, the Sensex slipped 160 points and the Nifty 50 fell 46 points to settle just below 23,650, as the rupee hit a fresh low against the dollar and crude oil prices ticked up — a quiet warning that the West Asia conflict, then in its third month, was nowhere near over. Oil & gas and metal stocks bore the brunt of the selling that day, while IT and services names, ironically, were among the buyers. That calm proved temporary

Let me start with a number that should stop us all in our tracks. India's medical inflation is running at 14% per year — nearly double the general inflation rate. A single cardiac bypass surgery that cost ₹2.5 lakhs a decade ago now routinely crosses ₹6–8 lakhs in a private hospital. A 15-day ICU stay for a stroke can drain ₹12–18 lakhs. For a 68-year-old retired teacher living on a pension and fixed deposits, that is not a medical bill. That is a life's savings — gone. This